With the Eight Immortals' magical treasures in hand, even a mortal like myself! Ha!

Ling Yuling was not embarrassed by the fact that the other party had revealed her true gender. Instead, she boldly invited him, saying, "If you are willing to join the Star Palace, it would be my honor to become your disciple."

"Then let's join the Star Palace now, you should hurry up and become an apprentice," Gu Qing chimed in with a smile.

These words surprised Ling Yuling, who clearly did not expect the other party to agree to join the Star Palace so easily—these were two cultivators at the late Core Formation stage, who were undoubtedly invaluable combat power for the Star Palace.

"Alright, stop teasing this kid. Let's hurry up and go hunting somewhere else," Tieguai Li said, interrupting the two at the right moment.

Upon hearing this, the two of them chuckled.

"Then we'll meet again. Thank you both, seniors, and this fellow Daoist, for giving me a level six demonic beast," Gu Qing said, cupping his hands in greeting. He didn't truly want to curry favor with the Star Palace; after all, he harbored secrets, so why would he casually join any faction?

Tieguai Li retrieved the mid-stage Core Formation corpse puppet, and the surrounding black mist and clouds instantly dissipated. Han Xiangzi lightly touched the water's surface, leaped, and gracefully returned to the Heavenly Imperial Boat.

Gu Qing maneuvered the flying boat, passing directly past Ling Yuling and the other two, stirring up waves.

Seeing Gu Qing and the others leave, the old man in the brown robe turned around and asked, "Miss, shall we follow them?"

"These three are really interesting. Let's follow them and see what happens." Ling Yuling was bold to begin with and wasn't worried at all about angering Gu Qing and the other two and causing a fight.

And so, Ling Yuling and her two companions followed openly behind, and even when they were discovered by Gu Qing and her group, they did not stop.

Seeing this, Tieguai Li couldn't help but ask, "Are we just going to let them follow us? We'll probably have to work harder to hunt the level seven demon beasts later, and I'm afraid these people might launch a surprise attack."

A level seven demon core is extremely precious; even a Nascent Soul cultivator would greatly benefit from obtaining one. This is evident from the way Elder Linghu treasured a level seven demon core after acquiring it.

Therefore, if they actually manage to hunt down a level seven demonic beast, the three following behind might actually make a move. It's hard to say who will win then—after all, they are cultivators from the Star Palace, and they probably wouldn't lack one or two magical treasures; they might even be hiding ancient artifacts.

"Then I'll trouble Fellow Daoist Li to shake them off," Gu Qing said, cupping his hands in greeting. Of the three present, only Tieguai Li was the most proficient in escape techniques, able to shrink the distance to an inch and traverse thousands of miles in an instant.

"Leave it to me. In just one move, they won't be able to see us anymore." Tieguai Li smiled, then tapped the flying boat beneath his feet with his iron crutch. The next moment, the flying boat became blurry, and when it reappeared, it was already a thousand miles away, its speed no less than that of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

The three people following behind, including Ling Yuling, were slightly startled when they saw Gu Qing and Tieguai Li's group suddenly disappear. They quickly rushed to the location where they disappeared, but only saw a few blurry afterimages.

"What superb escape techniques! But I doubt they've gone too far. Miss, should we give chase?" the old man in brown robes asked.

Ling Yuling shook her head slightly after hearing this, a sweet smile appearing on her face, and said, "Since we're both hunting in this sea area, we're bound to run into each other eventually. Let's just continue on our way as usual."

After saying that, Ling Yuling flew in the direction Gu Qing had left—clearly, she still wanted to meet Gu Qing at sea as soon as possible; otherwise, she would probably have turned in the opposite direction.

On the other side, after using the Shrinking Earth technique several times, Tieguai Li stopped and took out spirit stones to restore his mana. Spirit stones are the fastest way to restore mana, even faster than elixirs.

Gu Qing spotted an island in the distance and flew over in his flying boat. After surveying the island and confirming that there were no other cultivators, he said, "Let's play a duet and see if we can attract a level seven demonic beast."

After months of drifting at sea, they had only hunted down two level-five demonic beasts and the level-six demonic beast they had just encountered; they hadn't even caught a glimpse of a level-seven demonic beast, which was truly causing them some anxiety. If all else failed, they would have no choice but to resort to their trump card—the Demon-Attracting Grass.

The Demon-Attracting Grass is a spiritual herb that can directly enhance the cultivation of demonic beasts, possessing a fatal attraction to them. The aura it releases can drive demonic beasts mad, causing them to rush to fight for it at all costs.

"I think it's easier to just use the demon-attracting grass. High-level demon beasts have already developed intelligence, so trying to lure them in with music is all down to luck," Han Xiangzi said frankly.

"I have no objection to using the Demon-Attracting Grass. But if too many demonic beasts are attracted, can you handle it?" Gu Qing was not a stubborn person, and using the Demon-Attracting Grass to solve the problem was naturally the best option.

"Don't worry, as long as it's not a dozen or so level seven demonic beasts coming at once, Fellow Daoist Li and I can handle it." Han Xiangzi said confidently.

Since Han Xiangzi had said so, Gu Qing no longer hesitated. He took out three Demon-Attracting Grass seeds from his storage bag, then found a place where spiritual energy gathered and planted the seeds.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—" A slightly mournful sound of a flute rang out. As Gu Qing guided the Eight Immortals image in his sea of ​​consciousness, the surrounding flowers and plants also climbed and extended upwards in sync with the flute's melody.

The alluring plants hidden in the soil also sprouted and grew rapidly, growing curled leaves. Each unfolded leaf represented a century of growth, emitting a foul, fishy odor. It was likely this stench that attracted the monsters, causing them to charge forward recklessly.

The stench lasted for a day, and soon a level six demonic beast was attracted to it.

At this moment, the level six demon beast had lost its mind and rushed towards the island like a madman, which slowed down its movements—wasn't this a sitting duck?

Tieguai Li naturally didn't hold back, unleashing a technique called "Water Dragon Technique," which instantly sent two water dragons soaring up and tearing the level six demon beast to shreds.

Seeing that the level-six demon beast had fallen silent, Gu Qing went forward to take its demon core, hide, and some materials such as scales that emitted a precious light.

Gu Qing couldn't help but sigh, his skill in wielding his longsword to dismantle monster materials was becoming more and more proficient.

Three more days passed. During this time, Gu Qing dismantled the corpses of four demonic beasts, three of which were level five and one was a level six.

Since setting sail, they have hunted down two level-six demonic beasts and five level-five demonic beasts, and their demonic cores alone are worth more than 30,000 spirit stones.

As for those monster materials, Gu Qing doesn't sell them often and doesn't know their exact prices. He can ask about the prices when he arrives at the Six-Linked Palace.

"It seems that three 300-year-old Demon-Attracting Grasses are still not enough." Thinking of this, Gu Qing began to play again. Under the influence of the flute music, the three 300-year-old Demon-Attracting Grasses stretched out their leaves again, unfolding the fourth, fifth, and sixth leaves in succession.

In an instant, the Demon-Attracting Grass grew to six hundred years old, and its fishy, ​​foul odor became even stronger.